Analysis of Socio-Economic Factors in Correlation to Standardized Educational Test Scores

This paper describes the analysis of socio-eeonomic factors in correlation to standardized educational test scores. The scores used were from the Elementary School Proficiency Assessment exam distributed to fourth graders in New Jersey during the years 1999, 200l- 2003 [1-4]. The socio—economie factors are from the 2000 United States Census [5]. Simple regression and other statistical equations were used to compare the data from both sources with Microsoft Excel as a programming tool to perform the analysis

The future of disparate impact in Britain and the United States: shoot the Wards Cove quota myth and recognize plantation economy cases

"Librarians wanted - applicants must be over six feet tall" is a subtle way of achieving a discriminatory goal. Since the seminal case of Griggs v Duke Power , decided by a unanimous Supreme Court in 1971, the United States judiciary has, using disparate impact theory, recognised such cases as legally actionable. Case law also recognised some (but not all) discriminatory subjective hiring practices (such as excessive discretion given to one manager), but stopped short, in Wards Cove v Atonio, of recognising "plantation economy" cases, where there is a racially stratified workforce with no identified specific cause. In the meantime, the British Parliament followed Griggs by outlawing indirect discrimination in the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and the Race Relations Act 1976. However, after some deference to the spirit of Griggs in the early years, the British judiciary gave the statutory definition the narrowest interpretation. So much so, that in recent years, a new statutory definition was introduced to reverse the effect of these cases. In liberalising the law, the new definition opens the way to challenge subjective hiring practices, and possibly the plantation economy cases that were rejected in Wards Cove. For the first time British anti-discrimination law has the opportunity of advancing on its American model. Central to this is overcoming the objections made in Wards Cove . The underlying and surviving reasoning of the Wards Cove decision is that to recognise these cases would force employers to adopt quotas. This paper will show that all discriminatory subjective hiring practices should be actionable and that the Wards Cove quota reasoning is technically flawed and a fiction. Further, it will demonstrate positive reasons why plantation economy cases should be recognised

A Probabilistic Approach to Classifying Supernovae Using Photometric Information

This paper presents a novel method for determining the probability that a supernova candidate belongs to a known supernova type (such as Ia, Ibc, IIL, \emph{etc.}), using its photometric information alone. It is validated with Monte Carlo, and both space- and ground- based data. We examine the application of the method to well-sampled as well as poorly sampled supernova light curves and investigate to what extent the best currently available supernova models can be used for typing supernova candidates. Central to the method is the assumption that a supernova candidate belongs to a group of objects that can be modeled; we therefore discuss possible ways of removing anomalous or less well understood events from the sample. This method is particularly advantageous for analyses where the purity of the supernova sample is of the essence, or for those where it is important to know the number of the supernova candidates of a certain type (\emph{e.g.}, in supernova rate studies).Comment: Version accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journa

Discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation outside the workplace: is it actionable?

In 1998 the European Court of Justice - in Grant v. South West Trains Ltd (Case C-249/96) [1998] I.C.R. 449) - held that the existing EU sex discrimination legislation did not extend to discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. Domestic courts have taken the same line with the Sex Discrimination Act 1975. However, since 1st December 2003, discrimination of grounds of sexual orientation has been unlawful in the workplace, under the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations ('the Regulations') 2003 (S.I. 2003/1661, implemented in response to the Framework Directive, 2000/78/EC). Unfortunately, these new Regulations, covering employment matters only, do not correspond fully with the UK's existing legislative schemes provided by the Sex Discrimination Act, or the Race Relations Act 1976. This is because they do not extend to activities such as the provision of goods, facilities and services; housing, and education. However, in these activities, there are some cases of sexual orientation discrimination that may be argued under the Sex Discrimination Act, the Human Rights Act 1998, or the common law. These possibilities will be explored, sometimes with the help of the Canadian and United States' experiences

A study to determine the degree to which student nurses identify scientific principles and apply them in the bed bath procedure

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston Universit

Long Term Wind-Driven X-Ray Spectral Variability of NGC 1365 with Swift

We present long-term (months-years) X-ray spectral variability of the Seyfert 1.8 galaxy NGC 1365 as observed by Swift, which provides well sampled observations over a much longer timescale (6 years) and a much larger flux range than is afforded by other observatories. At very low luminosities the spectrum is very soft, becoming rapidly harder as the luminosity increases and then, above a particular luminosity, softening again. At a given flux level, the scatter in hardness ratio is not very large, meaning that the spectral shape is largely determined by the luminosity. The spectra were therefore summed in luminosity bins and fitted with a variety of models. The best fitting model consists of two power laws, one unabsorbed and another, more luminous, which is absorbed. In this model, we find a range of intrinsic 0.5-10.0 keV luminosities of approximately 1.1-3.5 ergs/s, and a very large range of absorbing columns, of approximately 10^22 - 10^24 cm^-2. Interestingly, we find that the absorbing column decreases with increasing luminosity, but that this result is not due to changes in ionisation. We suggest that these observations might be interpreted in terms of a wind model in which the launch radius varies as a function of ionising flux and disc temperature and therefore moves out with increasing accretion rate, i.e. increasing X-ray luminosity. Thus, depending on the inclination angle of the disc relative to the observer, the absorbing column may decrease as the accretion rate goes up. The weaker, unabsorbed, component may be a scattered component from the wind.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Societ

Long-Term X-ray Spectral Variability of Seyfert Galaxies with Swift

We present analysis of the long-term X-ray spectral variability of Seyfert galaxies as observed by Swift, which provides well-sampled observations over a much larger flux range and a much longer timescale than any other X-ray observatory. We examine long-term variability of three AGN: NGC 1365 (see Connolly et al. 2014), Mkn 335 and NGC 5548. At high fluxes, the 0.5-10 keV spectra soften with increasing flux, as seen previously within the 2-10 keV band. However, at very low fluxes the sources also become very soft. We have fitted a number of models to the data and find that both intrinsic luminosity variability and variable absorption are required to explain the observations. In some systems, e.g. NGC 1365, the best explanation is a two-component wind model in which one component represents direct emission absorbed by a disc wind wind, with the absorbing column inversely proportional to the intrinsic luminosity, and the second component represents unabsorbed emission reflected from the wind. In other AGN the situation is more complex.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figues, to appear in "Swift: 10 years of discovery", Proceedings of Scienc